EATEN ALIVE?
premiering Sunday, December 28, at 9:00 p.m., features snake researcher and
conservationist Paul Rosolie who has dedicated his career to studying the Giant
Green Anaconda, the largest and most powerful snake in the world and the top
predator in the Amazon. An author (“Mother of God: An Extraordinary
Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon”), Paul has
specialized in the western Amazon for more than a decade and his efforts have
helped bring awareness to the Peruvian Rainforest, the natural habitat of the
Giant Green Anaconda.

Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

This
past summer, over a 60-day period, crews documented Paul’s expedition to an
enchanted and hidden realm deep within the Amazonian jungle, an area the locals
call the “floating forest.” It is in the floating forest that Paul
believes the largest anacondas in the world live and breed, and one of the only
locations to truly study these elusive and majestic snakes in the
wild. On his one and only previous expedition to this secluded part
of the Amazonian jungle, Paul was very close to capturing what he believed was
the world’s largest anaconda, a 25 to 27-foot (7 to 8-metre long) behemoth that
slipped through his hands and nearly dragged him to the bottom of the floating
forest. If Paul succeeds this time in capturing this giant beast, he’s
going to attempt something no one has ever dared.

“I’ve
seen first-hand how the Amazon Rainforest is being destroyed. It is so
rampant that we may be the last generation with the opportunity to save
it. People need to wake up to what is going on,” said Paul. “What better
way is there to shock people than to put my life on the line with the largest
snake on the planet, the Green Anaconda?”

"It
is strange to think that one of the giant species of snakes on the planet is
also one of the least understood,” said biologist Shawn Heflick. “An amazing
and mysterious serpent, the Green Anaconda is what myths and legends are made
of.”

Since
Paul’s goal was to persevere through the constriction and potential ingestion
deep into the belly of the beast, he relied on a custom-built suit he designed
for his protection. Constructed by Paul and his team of engineers working
alongside herpetologists, the suit was built to ensure the snake’s safety just
as much as it was to protect Paul’s life. After
all, the highest measured force of an anaconda constriction has been documented
at 90psi, which would be the equivalent of having a large school bus on one’s
chest. Since anacondas rely on their massive size and power to subdue
their prey, Paul risked life and limb in the hopes of measuring the
constriction force of a massive anaconda, to gain more insight on its hunting
and feeding behaviors, and ultimately, to gain a greater understanding of the
inner workings of these majestic creatures.

Both
Paul Rosolie and the Giant Green Anaconda are healthy and alive.

EATEN ALIVE?is
produced for Discovery Channel by Expedition Amazon.
For Discovery Channel, Michael Sorensen and Matthew Kelly are executive
producers and Meagan Davis is the producer.